Keep Away
by Shinobi of the Satchigan
Summary: A story that came to me while listening to the song by Godsmack that goes by the same name. A young man is stalked by a tall man that only he can see. Not good with summaries, this is also my second fanfic, so please R&R!


Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Slenderman, I don't think anyone does, anyway. He is a myth, originally known as Der Grosmann. Note: I got the idea for this story when listening to Godsmack; particularly Keep Away.

"Tom!" A women's voice called. "Tom, are you paying attention?" The man known as Tom turned his blue eyes upon the teacher. He knew he hadn't been paying attention again. "Sorry Miss Jeffson. I zoned out," Tom answered slowly in defense of his actions while rubbing the back of his head. "This is the fourth time in two days Tom, you need to control yourself or you won't pass," Miss Jeffson replied stonily. She was right, after all. Tom's grades would surely start to slip if he couldn't pay attention. 'But I can't pay attention!' Tom thought while gazing at what the teacher was showing the class. 'Why can't anyone else see him?' For the past week, Tom had been distracted by a person that had recently begun to stalk him.

_(Flashback)_

_It was raining hard on the way home from class. Tom didn't mind though; he really enjoyed the rain. Standing still just outside of his classroom, he looked up to let the rain patter down his face and make it's swift journey to the ground. After heaving a sigh (It had been a long week, after all) Tom began the long walk to the apartment complex his family lived in._

'_I just want to graduate already, so I can start, and then finish college. Then I'll finally have a job!' He thought as he wearily trudged along the side of the road that lead to his home. Suddenly he came to a stop. 'What was that?' He turned to his right side, where he could have sworn that a tall figure had been staring at him from the forest that occupied the space next to the lonely road._

_But almost as soon as he had become aware of it, it had disappeared. 'I must be more tired than I thought' And so he began to continue on the way home, slightly faster than he would have been walking had he not seen, or thought he saw, the figure._

_(Flashback End)_

That had been Friday. It was Tuesday now as Tom traveled down the side of the well known road after leaving Miss Jeffson's class. Glancing at the sky, Tom stilled for a moment. Then he began sprinting back the way he had come. 'I forgot Mom asked me to get a gallon of milk! I can't forget to get it again!' With that in mind, he ran back towards the gas-station that he had passed only minutes ago.

After arriving at the gas-station, he purchased the milk with the money that his mother had given him specifically for this. Turning, he froze in place. There he stood, the tall man. He was standing at the gas pump that was about twenty feet away. 'There he is! What does he want with me?' Turning back to the clerk, an elderly man who was probably in his early sixties, he began to tell him of his plight. "Sir, there's this guy who keeps following me. I've been seeing him following me around for a few days now, and-" The elderly man cut him off. "Where is this man, son?" He asked while picking up the phone. "Over there," Tom pointed straight at the figure by the pump, and he was sure that he was going to run. But, surprisingly, he stayed put.

The elderly man peered through the window, straining his eyes, and finally leaned back, looking annoyed. "Now listen here, son," He began, pointing his finger at Tom. "I'm not in the mood for pranksters, so get out!" Tom looked ready to protest, but an angry glare from the old man silenced him. Head hung in defeat, he exited the gas-station. Seeing the figure still there, waiting for him, Tom wondered why only he could see his stalker. 'Am I going crazy?' But for some reason, it seemed to Tom that the figure was getting closer to him by the second, thin tentacle-like appendages sprouting from his back.

Needless to say, Tom bolted around the back of the gas-station, hope that he could outrun the man flaring brightly. Suddenly a figure crashed into Tom, causing him to drop the milk he was carrying. But instead of the menacingly tall figure that stalked him, it was another man who was shorter than him by at least a head. The man was also dirty, and rather smelly too. But the thing that scared Tom the most was his eyes. They were bloodshot, and looked like raging infernos. Tom actually recognized him as Kain, the local gangster. Tom began to push him off, thinking that this was an alcohol-induced accident and that he could resume his flight from the tall man. But before Tom could back away more than a foot, Kain pushed him roughly against the wall of the gas-station, now brandishing what Tom clearly saw was a knife. "Hey, what the-" Was all he managed to say before Kain shoved his dirty hand against Tom's face, effectively shutting him up.

"Now listen here Logan," Kain began. "You think you're so clever don't you? Thought you could screw me over and take all of that drug money for yourself? Well you thought wrong!" He hissed, pressing the blade of his knife against Tom's neck. 'I don't know what this guy is talking about! I'm not Logan, I'm Tom! Someone, help!' He thought desperately. Then, with an evil gleam in his eye, Kain began to try to slit Tom's throat. But before he could cut him, he was tackled by another figure. Tom recognized it as his best friend from school, John. "Tom, help!" He shouted as he was brutally beat with the butt of the smaller man's knife. Tom stepped forward to help, but stopped in his tracks. Time seemed to slow down.

There, standing no more than five feet from the brawl, was _Him_. The tall man who Tom could make out even in the dying light that had survived the dreary clouds. Quickly he looked to John, who was about to be skewered by the drug-addict. They locked eyes, John seemingly begging for Tom to hurry and help him. Looking up, Tom saw the tall man getting closer. And without looking back, Tom sprinted toward the forest desperately. "Tom, what are you doing? Get back here!" That was the last words John spoke, as Tom could hear his last screams in his head long after the knife had penetrated John's neck.

Tom had been running for what felt like hours, his adrenaline failing to keep him alert as he jogged through the dense forest. He just wanted to go home. But, suddenly, Tom's foot came into a stone, and he crashed to the ground, refusing to get back up. 'Maybe I outran him?' He thought as he lay there, panting. He felt truly sorry for what he had done to John, and cried for what felt like eternity Before stiffly standing back up. Almost as soon as he stood up, he felt something slam against him, causing him to once again crash to the ground. "Thought you could outrun me, Logan?" The voice John was all-too familiar with called. Kicking blindly, Tom heard a satisfying snap as his foot connected with his assailant's wrist.

Ignoring the cursing streaming from the man's mouth, Tom sprinted away. But he was tired, and it was only a matter of time before he slowed down, and the drug-addict caught up to him. Once again he was pinned against something- this time a tree- while the man revealed his now-bloody knife, smiling evilly. Closing his eyes and preparing for the worst, 'Karma for not helping John, I guess. I wish I could just go back home, to my family, argue with my brother just like every other day.' Tom found that the stroke of death never came. Opening his eyes, Tom couldn't believe what he saw. Kain stood there, blinking stupidly at Tom. Blood dribbled down out of his mouth, and looking down Tom noticed that a _thing _had stabbed him through the heart; blood was oozing everywhere. Shocked, Tom looked above Kain's head. There he was, the tall man. "What do you want from me?" Cried an emotionally distraught Tom. All the man did was stare at Tom blankly with his "Face…" Tom whimpered. "He doesn't have a face. He doesn't have a face!" He screamed loudly as he turned and started running once again through the trees.

'I can do this! I won't let that psychopath have me!' That thought, and thoughts similar to that were all that sounded in his head. He suddenly, to his joy, broke out of the trees, and he could see his home nearby. "Yes!" He sighed tiredly as he continued jogging. However, he had to come to a complete stop, because he had almost fallen down a twenty-plus foot drop. Panicking, he began to search for a way down. Unfortunately, the drop was sheer, and it seemed to go on forever. Turning slowly, he beheld the man, staring without eyes, directly at him.

Steeling himself, Tom turned and jumped down the side of the cliff. Landing none too gently and continuing to roll for about ten yards before stopping, he heard several snaps come from within his body, and pain like he had never felt before burned it's way up his arms and legs; even in his chest. Groaning, he looked up. What he saw made his blood freeze. Standing directly in front of him, was the man. Tom then began to cry as the man continued to get closer to him, as he realized he couldn't continue running. The last thing he saw was that horrible, blank face directly in front of his.

It took two stressful weeks for the police to find Tom and bring him home. He arrived to a weeping mother and father, and a silent brother. "Who could do this to him?" His mother wailed as she looked upon her son. The officer that had taken Tom home looked at the distraught woman, meeting her tearful gaze. "Ma'am, This isn't the first time we've seen this. We believe it is the work of a serial killer, dubbed "Slenderman" because eye-witnesses report of his unnatural body. "Where did you find him?" His father asked. "In a tree," The officer replied cooly, not thinking it wise to tell the parents that their son had in fact been_ on_ the tree, the branch poking through his chest. No, better let them not have that image in their minds. "Ma'am," The officer continued. "I don't think I need to tell you this, but keep a close eye on your other son, OK?" And with that, the officer strode off into the darkness.

Alright, that isn't exactly what I expected. I had the outline of the story in my head, but it came out a lot darker than I had originally intended. On a brighter note, this is my longest work yet. But this will most likely be my last story like this, as I honestly have no stomach for stories like these. But I bet you think that's weird, right? So do I. Well, hopefully I'll see you in my upcoming stories.


End file.
